Hong Kong-Mainland Tensions Manifest in Ferry Crash

China’s offers of help and condolences to Hong Kong following Monday’s deadly ferry collision has sparked criticism and mockery online, the latest sign of displeasure from some Hong Kong residents alarmed by Beijing’s political sway there and by the presence of mainlanders in the Chinese territory.

On Monday evening after the accident, local television broadcast footage of a visit by the deputy head of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, Li Gang, to a hospital where some of the victims had been taken. A screenshot of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying standing behind Mr. Li was uploaded to the Internet and quickly went viral.

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One Internet user Photoshopped a traditional Chinese headpiece onto Mr. Li, likening him to the Qing dynasty’s Empress Dowager Cixi. Mr. Leung, meanwhile, was depicted wearing a nondescript hat and given the nickname “little wolf.” Mr. Leung in the run-up to being chosen as chief executive earlier this year was nicknamed “wolf” by critics who said his ties to Beijing were too close. Mr. Leung, who was chosen as the city’s top leader in a process controlled by Beijing, said in response, “People who know me know that I’m definitely not a wolf.”

Online critics also point out that Mr. Li shares a name with another Chinese official who has become synonymous with abuses of power by the privileged in China. In October 2010, a senior police officer’s son in the province of Hebei gave birth to the catchphrase “My dad is Li Gang!” when he tried to escape the scene of a fatal car accident.

Lee Wai-ling, a well-known local commentator, wrote in AM 730, a newspaper, that the image of Mr. Leung behind Mr. Li encapsulated many Hong Kongers’ fears that the liaison office — rather than the chief executive — was calling the shots in the city.

The Hong Kong liaison office referred a call for comment to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was closed on Thursday due to the Chinese holiday.

Mr. Li’s comments at the hospital also raised eyebrows when he offered his condolences to the dead, before any official announcement from the Hong Kong government had been made regarding casualties.

The Hong Kong government also requested ships from Guangdong province to be on stand-by, in case they were needed in the rescue effort. At a media briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Leung said he invited help from the mainland because of the large numbers of casualties involved, but said the arrangement was a “contingency plan.” He said the mainland ships were not used.

Hong Kong maintains its own political and legal system, but resentment among citizens towards mainland Chinese has exploded in the past year or so. The influx of Chinese visitors and immigrants has been blamed for driving up prices of everything from toiletries to property, with tensions running high this week as thousands flock to the city for the long holiday on the mainland.